Royal Caribbean leaving Vancouver Cruise Terminal, photo credit Spacejunkie2, Flickr Photos

The Port of Vancouver’s Canada Place is on pace for its busiest cruise season ever, with a record 141 cruise ship calls, up 8 per cent, and 560,000 passenger visits, up 11 per cent, between February and the end of June, according to the port’s 2026 mid-year cargo report.

“We are thrilled to see Vancouver’s cruise sector continue to thrive, as more and more passengers choose to make our vibrant city a core part of their Alaskan adventure,” said Peter Xotta, president and chief executive officer of the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority.

“I want to thank the countless cruise and destination partners we work with to make Canada Place cruise operations a success.”

Canada Place is a premier homeport for the Alaska market, so passengers both start and end their trip locally, and cruise lines also use the stop to restock and refuel between sailings, the port said.

Xotta added that every cruise ship visit to Vancouver injects roughly $3 million into the local economy, supporting jobs along with Canadian suppliers, hotels and restaurants.

The cruise numbers came as part of a broader mid-year report showing overall cargo volumes at the port reached a record 88.1 million metric tonnes for the first half of 2026, up 3 per cent from the same period last year, driven largely by record grain and crude oil exports to Indo-Pacific markets. Vehicle imports also set a half-year record, up 10 per cent to 264,000 units.

The Port of Vancouver is Canada’s largest and most diversified port, moving more cargo each year than the country’s next five largest ports combined.